Jun 21, 201309:28 AM

Swing Set: Cruising Full Time

Black Point Settlement and Farmer's Cay

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Last Sunday, we had been anchored "around the corner" from Black Point Settlement, and even though the anchorage was pretty, we were getting swells rolling in from the south. We couldn't get in close enough to the beach to offer us any protection from the land jutting out to our south, so we decided to head out. I was at the helm, and Rosie was at the bow, ready to retrieve our "floaty" from the anchor line when I pulled it up. I noticed a new email and checked it, not knowing it we'd have service where we were going at White Point, a few miles south.

The email was from Katie, of Jessie and Katie, the two young girls on the sailboat. Katie's dog, Reggie had gotten an ear infection, and Katie wondered if we had any medicine left that we'd been giving Holly. I answered her that we did, but perhaps not enough for a complete course to cure Reggie, but we would stick around if they were coming down to Black Point. I told Rosie the story, and we pulled up anchor and headed back to anchor just off the government dock at Black Point Settlement. There was ample wave protection at that anchorage, but we still didn't like the scenery.

Once we got back to the settlement and got our anchor secure, we decided to take the dinghy in to see what was available in the town. A couple of restaurants were advertised in the guides we had, plus a grocery store, a BaTelCo office, a clinic and a bar. All the essentials.

First we saw the grocery store. Two women were sitting out under a tree out front. One invited us in, and we looked around. They had eggs and lettuce, plus some butter, which we needed. They had no bread, but the woman told us that we could get bread at Lorraines, a restaurant "just down the way." I told her we'd be back for groceries on our way back from Lorraines.

After a short walk, we found Lorraine's, a restaurant that was touted in the guidebooks. We walked past a young girl sitting under a tree in front with a little baby. She didn't say a word, although Rosie said hello to her. The door to the restaurant was locked, and it was noon. Hoping to not bother the young girl too much, we asked her if the restaurant was open for business. She told us to knock on the door of the house just behind the restaurant.

I stepped on the little porch and was trying to decide which of the two doors I was going to knock on when I figured I would just give a "Hello." Door number two opened, and a woman stepped out, wiping the sleep from her eyes and asking me what time it was. "It's noon," I said. "Is the restaurant open for business?"

"Yes. The time must have gotten away with me," she said.

"I was told you sell bread here."

"My mother makes it. We have some inside. Come on in."

I let Rosie do the honors. She went in to buy a fresh loaf of bread, again for $6, and I followed the woman (who turned out to be Lorraine) to the front door of her restaurant, where she unlocked the door and told me to have a seat.

"Are you sure you want to open just for us?" I said.

"No problem. I have to open anyway," is the response I got...plus, "Help yourself to a beer if you want it, it's in the cooler."

I knew the beer wasn't on the house, but it was Budweiser, and very cold. Rosie had come in by that time, so I grabbed two Buds as a start to our lunch. The beers were from February, a mere four months ago. That's factory fresh here in the islands.

The menus were taped to the walls. We both checked them out, and I saw what I wanted, a cheeseburger. Rosie decided on a chicken sandwich. Each came with a side of our choice, and we picked onion rings. "I think I have some of those," Lorraine said.

While Lorraine was cooking our lunch in the kitchen, five more folks came in, a couple with three children. Business was picking up. No sooner than they sat down, but two more guys came in off a sailboat. When Lorraine came out of the kitchen, she was nearly floored. Nine people for lunch may have been overload.

Rosie and I ate our mediocre sandwiches, and ate our previously frozen onion rings, and managed to drink two Buds a piece. Our bill with a tip came to $45 bucks. Lorraine was nice, and she was very appreciative of the tip, and we figured we got our money's worth and was happy to be a customer in what is obviously a dried-up town.